Obama Warns on Tropical Storm Isaac: ‘Take This Seriously’

Traffic extends down I-10 in Kenner, La., heading towards Baton Rouge, as many residents leave the New Orleans area in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac, which is expected to make landfall on the Louisiana coast as a hurricane, Aug. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Barack Obama urged residents in the path of Tropical Storm Isaac to take it seriously and to listen to local officials amid worries it could cause severe damage in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast.

“We’re dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area,” Mr. Obama said in a two-minute statement from the White House before heading to Iowa to campaign. Speaking directly to Gulf Coast residents, he said: “Now’s not the time to tempt fate. Now’s not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously.”

Mr. Obama said his administration will continue to provide updates about the storm throughout the week. Isaac remains a tropical storm, but forecasters have said it could intensify before reaching landfall late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted Isaac could cause storm surges of up to 12 feet along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, and it could dump as much as 14 inches of rain in the area – and as much as 20 inches in some isolated areas.

The storm comes almost exactly seven years to the day since Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans’s flood-control systems and unleashed torrents of water that forced thousands to evacuate and claimed the lives of nearly 2,000 people. Katrina was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall along the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.

Mr. Obama, in delivering a statement before the storm came ashore, is likely trying to avoid the criticism that dogged former President George W. Bush when Katrina struck New Orleans. Many said the federal government was ill-prepared for the disaster and botched relief efforts. The storm comes at an opportune time and it may give Mr. Obama a powerful backdrop to show his leadership while Republicans are gathered in Tampa to formally nominate Mitt Romney as their presidential nominee.

Mr. Obama said at “my direction” the Federal Emergency Management Agency has had teams on the ground for over a week to prepare for potential damage. Mr. Obama said he has signed a Louisiana disaster declaration, which allows the federal government to provide additional resources to the state. He said the government has already positioned supplies in Florida and Alabama, and has sent response teams to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Since Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has built up a $15 billion ring of defenses in and around New Orleans—a 350-mile flood protection network designed to protect it from a so-called 100-year storm or flood. The upgrades include 350,000 tons of rocks at the entrance to the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a canal that critics said funneled water into New Orleans during Katrina. Miles of levees and flood walls have also been heightened and reinforced.

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